Milking-machine installation



June 25, 1929. 1 HULBERT 1.718.822

MILKING MACHINE INSTALLATION Filed June 21, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ANT/$65155:

M0 I? if; gr

Patented June 25,1929. v

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. HULTBEBT, OI IIPOTJ'GHKEIEPSIE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE DE LAVAL SEPABATOR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 01 NEW JERSEY.

MILKING-MACHINE INSTALLATION.

Application filed June 21, 1926. Serial No. 117,278.

In that type of milking machine installation in which a pneumatic master pulsator is used, the installation comprises a vacuum pump and a master pulsator operated there- 5 by, a pipe line extending therefromthrough the barn and provided with stanchion cocks,

and two or more milking machine units any of vacuum pipe and the other on'jthepulsation. pipe; or the pipe line may comprise asingle (pulsation) pipe connected with the inaste'r pulsator, as shown, for example,fi n theYpatent to Leitch, No. 1,196,001, in which case each connection, at any onetime,i-wi' th a single cock on the pipe line. My invention i's applicable to either ofthese systems, andto'other systems involving the use of a master'pulsator and a I pulsation pipe line, and in any system 1sj1ntended for application to the pulsation (pipe line, and therefore only a pulsationpipe line is shown in the drawingsand accompanying description. ,q In the master pulsator system, the pump capacity required is greater than systems in which each milking; machin unit is equipped with an automaticfpul'sator, since the pulsation pipe line extendsfthrou hout the entire system and mu'st b e -fille f and emptied, or partly filled and emptied, atevery" pulsation. This involves the *use'jofa; con-j siderable volume of air, and in theic'ase oi a"- 40 good size barn, the large pump cap'acityi-and r the power required for its operation are. serious factors of expense.

The volume of air necessary to the special construction, which, I will now describe.

system, and therefore thepump capacity, fcan be reduced by dividing the; pulsation pipe line into two or more sections and, by means of suitable valves, connecting one section site time with the master pulsator. "{Thisarrangement, however, is unsatisfactory,fforfseveral reasons. In the firstplace, both-valves may be left open, thus openingmoregthanf one pipe line section at a time, and therefore opening a longer total length of pipeline thanthe pump hasthe capacity to -ma1nta1n. A'; stillmore ser1ous objection tothis-arrangementis of theinstallation) and unless all the milking duringthe last stage of milklng along one operative connection of more than one section to the master pulsator at any one time and other. unit will be provided with a single piperforr that unless the number of cocks on each pipe line sect on is an exact multiple of the number of milklng machine units (which will vary from two to tenor more dependent on the size units are simultaneously attached to one set of cocks and then to another set of cocks and so on, any number of such units less than the whole number will necessarily be inactive pipe line section.

The present invention has for its object to allow the pipe line system to be divided into a plurality of sections while preventing the permitting the continuous operation of all :the milking machine units notwithstanding the switch from one pipe line section to an- 15 s invention willibe understood by refer ence to the accompanying drawings, which Jshow a preferred. embodiment of my inventj1on,'1n connection with the following description. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a com- 1 plete installation.

F g. 2 is a cross-sectional view through thevalve casing and valve.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the valve casing and valve-operating lever.

1 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3.

-wF1gs. 5 and G arediagramS of modified in- ,stallations.

From the pump a, and the master pulsator b operated thereby extends a pulsation pipe ,line 0, which I calltlle primary pipe line.

From'this primary pipe line extends two pulsation pipe line sectionsd and 6. At the junction-between pipes c, d and e is a three- 'wayvalve which connects one or the other of the sections d and e and with the primary pipeline 0. This three-way valve has a The casing f of thevalveis provided with three passages g, h and 71, which may be con- "ma connect assa es and h assu es and '5, or passages h and-i. If, however, the

connections are such that passage g is in communication with the primary line 0 and the 110 passages h and z are. in communication with the pipe sections d and a respectively, the valve should be turnable into-only two positions, in one of which it will connect passages y and It and allow pulsations to be transmitted from the primary line 0 to the pipe section (I and in the other of which it will connect passages g and i and allow pulsations to be transmitted from the prii'nary line 0 to the pipe section 0; and should not be turnable into position to connect passages Ii and i, which would serve to connect pipe sections (l and c and cut off both sections from the primary line.

To ell'ect this purpose I provide the valve body with two lugs m and n, and the valve casing with a stop 0. The valve may be turned so that lugmabuts against stop 0, in which position passages g and i are brought into communication, or it may be turned so that lug m abuts against stop 0 (see Figs. 2 and 3), in which position passages g and It will be in communication.

The stop 0 is preferably a screw pin which is screwed into a. threaded hole in the valve casing. The casing is provided with another threaded hole 1'). I The. stop pin 0 may be transferred to the hole in which case the valve may be turned into position to connect passages g and lb or into position to conneet passages h and i but not into position to connect passages g and i. The stop pin 0 would be inserted in hole p if passage h were connected with the primary line 0 and passages g and i with the two pipe line sections respectively. The placing of the stop pin will depend on which side of the barn the primary pipe line enters from the master pulsator.

The passages g and h, as they approach one another, are curved toward )assage 2', and the passage through valve body f is curved on such an are that, whichever two passages it connects, it provides a continuous arcuate passage for the pneumatic pulsations.

In Fig. 1 a milking machine installation is shown in diagram. It may be assumed that pipe section d and pipe section 6 each carries any number of stanchion cocks and that any number of portable milking machine units a: are comprised in the complete installation. The pipe sections should be equipped with relays if the sections are of considerable length. It is one characteristic feature of the installation that the primary line 0 also carries cooks the minimum number of which will vary with the number of portable units. \Vhatever the number of units may be, the minimum number of cocks on the primary line should be the number of units less one. For example, if the number of units be three, the primary line 0 should be equipped with at least two cocks and mav carry more. If the number of units be ten, the primary line should be equipped with at least nine cocks. The reason for this provision of cocks on the primary line will be understood if we assume that milking starts at the far end of section d and progresses toward the control valve. After the stage is reached at which the units are connected to the cocks nearest the valve, and the units are then one by one disconnected from these cocks they are one by one transferred to the cocks on the primary line 0 until all the cocks on the primary line (assuming the primary line carries the specilied minimum number of cocks) and one cock (nearest the valve'f) on section (I are in use. \Vhen the unit connected to the last named cock is disconnected, the unit is transfcrrul to one of the cocks on section 0 and the valve f is turned to connect the primary line 0 with section 0. Thereafter the units are transferred from the cocks on the primary line to the cocks on section 0. There is therefore no interruption of the milking and there is no stage at which any of the units must be held idle, as would be the case if the primary line a were unprovided with cocks or provided with a fewer number of cocks than the num ber of units less one.

In Fig. 5 the primary line is lettered c' and the two sections (l' and e. The primary line 0' and section d are arranged in alignment on one side of the barn and are of a combined length substantially equal to the length of the line e on the other side of the barn. A connecting pipe 1', which may be regarded as a part of section 0, extends diagonally across the barn from the valve at the junction of lines a and (1'.

In Fig. 6 the pump and master pulsator are located near the center of the milkin line. That part of the primary line a that carries a cock or cocks is arranged between, and in alignment with, section d and that portion of the other section e'- that carries cocks, the remaining len th of section 0 which is lettered 8, extendmg alongside and in parallel relation with the cock-carrying part of the primary line 0.

The described arrangements of the rimary pipe line and pipe sections may be urther varied to adapt the installation to different situations.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. I11 a master pulsator milking machine installation, the combination with the master pulsator, of a prin'iary pulsation pipe line leading therefrom, a plurality of pulsation pipe sections adapted to communicate with the primary ipe line, means adapted to connect either 0? the pipe sections with the primary pipe line and to disconnect the other pipe section from the primary pipe line, a plurality of portable milking machine units either of which is adapted for connection with any of the hereinafter specified cocks, cocks arranged along each of the pipe sections, the minimum number of cocks carried by each pipe section exceeding the number of units, and a cock or cocks carried by the primary pipe line, the number of cocks carried by the primary pipe line being not less than the number of units less one.

2. A master pulsator milking machine installation in accordance with claim 1 wherein the means to connect anddisconnect the primary pipe lines with the pipe sections comprises a valve turnable into only two operative positions and which when turned into either position connects one pipe section with, and disconnects the other pipe section from, the primary pipe line.

3. In a master pulsator milking machine installation, the combination with the master pulsator, of a primary pulsation pipe line leading therefrom, a plurality of pipe sections adapted to communicate with the primary pipe line, means adapted to connect either of the pipe sections with the primary pipe line and to disconnect the other pipe section from the primary pipe line, a plurality of milking machine units either of which is adapted for connection with any of the hereinafter specified cocks, and cooks carried by the primary pipe line and both pipe sections, whereby a plurality of milking machine units may be simultaneously respec tively connected with as many different cocks one or more of which are located on the primary pulsation line and one or more of which are located on one of the pipe sections, thereby enabling any one pipe section at a time to be in operation while under all conditions allowing the simultaneous operation of a minimum number of milking machine units equal to the number of cocks on the primary line plus one.

4. A master pulsator milking machine installation in accordance with claim 3 wherein the means to connect and disconnect the primary pipe lines with the pipe sections comprises a valve turnable into only two operative positions and which when turned into either position connects one pipe section with, and disconnects the other the primary pipe line.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Poughkeepsie, New York, on this 15th day of June, 1926.

JOHN L. HULBERT.

pipe section from, 

